Mulk Raj Saraf

Lala Mulk Raj Saraf was an Indian journalist and writer, known for his pioneering efforts in Urdu journalism. He was born on 8 April 1894 in Samba district of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir to Dayanand Saraf and Jamuna Devi and graduated from the Government Gandhi Memorial Science College, Jammu. He started his career as a sub editor at the nationalist daily, Bande Matharam based in Punjab, worked there for a while and returned to Jammu in 1924 to start his own daily in Urdu language, Ranvir and Rattan, an Urdu Journal.

Saraf wrote several articles and was the author of books such as Meri Pakistan Yatra, Insaniyat Abhi Zinda Hai and Nagooh-e-Ranvir. Meri Pakistan Yatra, which detailed his reminiscences of his trip to Pakistan was selected as the Book of the Year by the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages in 1980. His autobiographical work was published in 1967 under the title, Fifty years as a journalist. Saraf was the author of the first biography published in Dogri language, Sher-e-Duggar Lala Hans Raj Mahajan Jeevan Katha'who was born in hamirpur sidhar j&k ,which was released in 1968. He was awarded the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1976.

Mulk Raj Saraf died on 21 February 1989, at the age of 94, in Mumbai at the residence of his son, Ved Rahi, a known Bollywood film personality and the director of the film, Veer Savarkar.